Michigan City, Indiana station closing 4/4/2022

[daybeers]

Caught this Amtrak Alert on the website today; unsure when it was posted.

Effective April 4, the Michigan City, IN, station will be closed and no longer served by Amtrak.

More frequent Amtrak service is available in New Buffalo, approximately 15 minutes east, along with free parking and trains on both our Wolverine and Blue Water routes, sponsored by the Michigan Department of Transportation.

New Buffalo Station:
226 N. Whittaker Street
New Buffalo, MI 49117

Alternate service to and from Chicago is available through the South Shore Line (NICTD) commuter rail from the Beverly Shores or Carroll Avenue stops. Visit www.mysouthshoreline.com/ for more information.

The station saw 2,662 riders in FY2019, with three Wolverine trips westbound and two trips eastbound. The Blue Water route passes through without stopping. That makes about 7-8 people per day, so it makes sense to save time and discontinue this station, especially if the South Shore Line is nearby and getting faster with the projects currently going on.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Isn't the Blue Water on a different set of tracks that don't run by the station? Kind of a shame (and that both routes aren't at the same station). I wonder if Indiana or Michigan City have stopped some subsidy of the station?

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Isn't the Blue Water on a different set of tracks that don't run by the station? Kind of a shame (and that both routes aren't at the same station). I wonder if Indiana or Michigan City have stopped some subsidy of the station?

The Blue Water passes through the station. It might be the Pere Marquette you're thinking of, which does use different tracks through Michigan City.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

The Blue Water passes through the station. It might be the Pere Marquette you're thinking of, which does use different tracks through Michigan City.

Oh yeah, that's right. Forgot there were three Michigan services....

 

[thully]

This leaves Hammond-Whiting as the sole Indiana stop on the Michigan trains. Had thought service there may have been discontinued (it wasn’t served during the initial COVID service as I remember), but I’m seeing two westbound and one eastbound Wolverine daily (which is kind of weird - why more frequency in one direction?)

 

[moselman66]

For the small number of passengers using Michigan City the top destination was Chicago -- likely close to half -- so the South Shore is indeed there to absorb.

https://www.railpassengers.org/site/assets/files/2206/mci.pdf
Hammond, on the other hand, looks to have about 90% of their traffic heading east and serves more as a Chicago suburban stop for those who don't want to have to backtrack downtown to take the train to Michigan. Not very busy -- about 14 people per day -- but certainly busier than Michigan City and geneerally serving a different purpose.

https://www.railpassengers.org/site/assets/files/2013/hmi.pdf

 

[cirdan]

Sad to hear that. I was there once. It's a cute little station and the old station house has a diner / pub where I once had a meal.

 

[amtrakpass]

To me It is kind of inevitable to have low ridership with how few trains they had scheduled to stop there. A true test would have been if it was at least a flag stop for all trains that went by the station and likewise Hammond Whiting would do a lot better if all trains including the Lake shore and Capitol stopped or flagged the station in my view instead of the current very limited schedule.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

The SS is certainly more convenient if Chicago (or airports) are your destination, but if you are getting another Amtrak train onward, it's not (of course, for that low ridership, not a surprise). When did Amtrak start stopping there (I'm too lazy to google it right now)? I remember when we lived out that way going to Niles to pickup my grandmother who was coming from the Detroit area (I also remember going to Hammond/East Chicago in the 70's to catch trains, but don't remember to where, but I think west to connect to Colorado).

 

[cirdan]

The SS is certainly more convenient if Chicago (or airports) are your destination, but if you are getting another Amtrak train onward, it's not (of course, for that low ridership, not a surprise).

I've done the trek from Van Buren Street to Chicago Union Station many times (walking). For some reason it's almost always pouring with rain when I have to do that. So that's maybe why I don't really like doing it.

As far as I know there isn't even a direct bus connection between the two points. This might be a good starting point if they are honestly interested in better connecting the SS to Amtrak.

 

[NorthShore]

The SS is certainly more convenient if Chicago (or airports) are your destination, but if you are getting another Amtrak train onward, it's not (of course, for that low ridership, not a surprise). When did Amtrak start stopping there (I'm too lazy to google it right now)? I remember when we lived out that way going to Niles to pickup my grandmother who was coming from the Detroit area (I also remember going to Hammond/East Chicago in the 70's to catch trains, but don't remember to where, but I think west to connect to Colorado).

The Amtrak station is also a nicer (and faster) option closer to attractions for which someone might want to daytrip to Michigan City from Chicago, especially. To get to the harbor or the zoo it will now be harder from South Shore, especially considering the temporary suspension of the historic street running station. Can you even get to Michigan City sans shuttle bus, presently? It might have seemed like an ideal time for Amtrak to promote its service as an alternative, actually.

I've boarded there. Not a huge passenger load on a Saturday night. But a few on and offs. I'm not sure what entirely abandoning an unstaffed station does other than eliminate a little extra revenue and passenger convenience to save, what, 5 minutes?

But it is too damn bad that Indiana doesn't care about rail...or the northwest part of the state. They should secede to Illinois or Michigan, either/both of which are more related to the Lake Michigan adjacent areas than the rest of the "Crossroads."

 

[MARC Rider]

I've done the trek from Van Buren Street to Chicago Union Station many times (walking). For some reason it's almost always pouring with rain when I have to do that. So that's maybe why I don't really like doing it.

As far as I know there isn't even a direct bus connection between the two points. This might be a good starting point if they are honestly interested in better connecting the SS to Amtrak.

You could just ride to Millenium Station and get the 151 bus on Michigan Ave, which takes you right to Union Station.

 

[thully]

I wish they could consolidate everything Amtrak, most Metra, and South Shore at Union Station (and possibly Ogilvie, which is relatively close - wonder if those could be connected by tunnel?) - would be far more convienent transfer-wise than having 4 terminals. Perhaps turn Metra Electric into a new CTA line as has been occasionally suggested. Of course, that’s probably impossible, and would need new connecting tracks (though if South Shore could be connected to Union Station, maybe the Michigan Line rains could run on that instead of dealing with the hell that is Norfolk Southern…).

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Perhaps turn Metra Electric into a new CTA line as has been occasionally suggested.

NO THANK YOU!

There really isn't room for all the rail in Chicago at Union in it's current layout (commuter and Amtrak).

 

[MisterUptempo]

I've done the trek from Van Buren Street to Chicago Union Station many times (walking). For some reason it's almost always pouring with rain when I have to do that. So that's maybe why I don't really like doing it.

As far as I know there isn't even a direct bus connection between the two points. This might be a good starting point if they are honestly interested in better connecting the SS to Amtrak.

CTA's 126 Jackson bus has stops at Michigan & VanBuren (SS/MED) and Clinton & Jackson (Union Station) every 15-20 mins.

 

[amtrakpass]

If this is a state supported service I am unsure how Amtrak made this decision?
Did they lobby Michigan to try and close it? Shouldn't this be a state of Michigan decision alone? In my mind almost all Amtrak trains are actually express services in the traditional railroad sense already considering the distance between stations and closing an unstaffed station or not having trains stop can't be much of a cost or time saver. Not that big a deal with this particular stop but I do think Hammond-Whiting could have much better ridership if all the trains stopped there.

 

[GoAmtrak]

Sad to hear that. I was there once. It's a cute little station and the old station house has a diner / pub where I once had a meal.

I'm also not happy to hear that. The Midwest needs more Amtrak stations, not less. The Midwest needs more trains, not less. I really hope for improvements in the Midwest, but I don't see any of them yet.

You could have walked from the Amtrak station in Michigan City to the South Shore station to go further to South Bend and then eastwards. Would have been a possibility.

Unfortunately, the South Shore line doesn't go to the Amtrak station in South Bend either, which would be nice. Probably, the denial to spend more money leads to questionable planning and bad connectivity.

As others have mentioned, too much is routed through Chicago which is somewhat risky if something doesn't work in Chicago.

 

[Locobill]

Sad to hear that. I was there once. It's a cute little station and the old station house has a diner / pub where I once had a meal.

The “station” now is basically a small shelter like a bus stop. The building is still there but was turned into a restaurant that has been closed for a couple years.

 

[Amtrak25]

Amtrak doesn't subsidize the train, so they don't care if they lose ridership, minimalist that it is. They send the subsidy bill to Lansing. Perhaps they are also punishing Indiana for killing the Hoosier State, making Amtrak's corridor-only obsession look foolish.

Michigan City is not in the state of Michigan, so not their constituency. They don't care either.

Indiana doesn't give Amtrak a dime for anything, and would rather have Amtrak's minimal ridership transferred to their subsidized NICTD. Passengers are probably more content to be dropped off along Michigan Avenue at Van Buren Street and Randolph Street than at Union Station.

I'd expect this to happen eventually at Dyer with 2,991 boardings plus alightings in FY 2019 (~10 per train) when the NICTD branch opens, even though Rensselaer and Connersville do worse.

Hammond-Whiting came about during the Claytor years. My opinion is that was their knowing they would get booted off the Fort Wayne line, and wanted to backfill for loss of the Gary, Valparaiso, and former Pennsy Valpo locals, yet content to let all the other stations Canton and west to rot away.

 

[Burns651]

The Michigan City MC depot will likely be destroyed for a condo project. I imagine the hassle of adjusting/moving the platform and shelter for that isn't worthwhile for Amtrak. This is the latest news I found, over a year old. Paywall but you get a glimpse of a rendering which shows the condo plopped where the depot is now.
https://www.nwitimes.com/business/l...cle_d9533644-e1f6-5a37-a2ad-bd0c08b8386c.html

 

[jiml]

I do think Hammond-Whiting could have much better ridership if all the trains stopped there.

They used to.

 

[MikefromCrete]

It looks like the condo project probably doomed the Michigan City station. The new owners probably don't want the legal liability for people hanging out waiting for a train. In any case, the New Buffalo station is only 15 minutes away. Ironically, it's surrounded by condos.

 

[amtrakpass]

My mistake on the Michigan City station being in Indiana. The Condo project sounds like a plausible reason, however I do think there seems to be kind of a disconnect on the management of the midwest corridors and especially the wolverine where the states almost don't realize that they have the final say on what happens with the trains they in fact do fund. Amtrak seems to have their own agenda and an outsized influence on almost every decision for the midwest corridor trains when they are really supposed to be just a service provider.

 

[neroden]

This looks like another violation of the law requiring 180 days notice before discontinuation of service.

 

[SubwayNut]

Unfortunately, the South Shore line doesn't go to the Amtrak station in South Bend either, which would be nice. Probably, the denial to spend more money leads to questionable planning and bad connectivity.

The South Shore Line actually owns the Amtrak station in South Bend and leases it Amtrak, it was the South Bend terminus of the South Shore Line from when street running ended in the 1970s until 1992.